Developer Ed Roski Jr. said he doubted a loss of $1 billion in personal wealth over the past year would hurt his plan to bring pro football back to the Southland, even though a sports consultant said it could spell trouble for the billionaire’s proposed stadium.

Roski, whose plan for a National Football League stadium complex in Industry recently cleared a major legal hurdle, dropped to No. 236 on the rankings of the 400 wealthiest Americans from No. 163 in 2008, according to Forbes Magazine.

Roski was not alone.

In an article published this week, Forbes noted the collective worth of Americans on its annual list of billionaires dropped $300 billion to $1.27trillion.

“I think we saw a lot of wealth disappear in the last 24 months,” said Steve Johnson, a real estate research consultant and director of Metrostudy Southern California.

The magazine attributed Roski’s lost wealth primarily to plummeting property values, which may not influence his plan for a $800million, 75,000-seat sports/ entertainment complex at the junction of the 57 and 60 freeways adjacent to Diamond Bar.

Roski said the stadium complex would be funded through “contractual income,” such as bonding partners and other revenue beyond personal wealth.

“There is not just one stream of things,” Roski said. “Real estate is not great right now. It’s part of the way we live and everybody is going to survive.”

Roski, 70, who is CEO of Majestic Realty Co., is worth nearly $1.5 billion this year, a 40 percent drop from the last report, according to Forbes.

At least one sports business expert contends a hit to Roski’s pocketbook could spell trouble for the NFL stadium, which Roski vowed to privately finance.

“It’s significant,” said Marc Ganis, president of SportsCorp, a Chicago-based sports consulting firm.

“Because you have to contribute a significant amount of cash into the stadium or into the team.”

Those closest to Roski said that analysis is flawed.

For example, tenants are often locked into long-term leases that don’t change when property values fall, said Kent Valley, senior vice president at Majestic Realty.

And, even though the economic downturn has hurt, it could have been worse for Majestic, Valley said.

“We had all the same problems as everyone else but we’re going pretty strong,” he said.

As the economy starts to regroup, those hit by a drop in the real estate market should recover, Johnson said.

“There is an inherent value to the western U.S.,” the real estate consultant said. “It’s going to correct and increase.”

There is a silver lining. The recession may benefit Majestic Realty as construction costs and interest rates are down, Roski said.

The stadium still faces a legal challenge before it can be built, but Roski has lobbied hard for a bill that would exempt the project from state environmental rules.